


Sometime Around Midnight

by wispmother



Category: Game Grumps
Genre: Feelings, Fluff, Jealousy, M/M, Short One Shot, Sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-06
Updated: 2015-08-06
Packaged: 2018-04-13 06:04:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,812
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4510644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wispmother/pseuds/wispmother
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>While on an overnight project with Dan, Arin has to come to terms with how he feels about Dan's flirtatious nature, the attention he receives because of it, and his own jealous feelings.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sometime Around Midnight

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Cottonstones](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cottonstones/gifts).



“Did you see the way the barista smiled at me?” Dan asked, wrapping his fingers around the moderately sized paper cup holding the coffee he’d so desperately begged they stop for. “She wanted the D.”

The shit-eating grin on his face was enough to make Arin think Dan was just saying the thing about the barista to be funny, but it was sticking in Arin’s craw in such a way that he found it the farthest thing from funny. The barista had smiled at Dan in a way that was a little too friendly, a little too eager. And Dan had given a similar grin right back to her. Arin rolled his eyes, stuffing his hands into his pockets against the slight chill that had begun to creep into the air as the sun had set.

This wasn’t the first time it’d happened in all the years Arin had known Dan; hell, it wasn’t the first time it’d happened today. The sales associate at Best Buy, the old acquaintance of Dan’s they’d run into at Target, the driver in the car next to them at the stoplight they were at before the coffee shop – all of them had done something to give the rail-thin man a little more attention, pointed and obvious. Dan had that wide smile and easy laugh and way about him that practically invited people to make passes, let their eyes linger just a moment too long, let a touch hover a second more than was normal. Arin had gotten good at ignoring it, most times, but sometimes he couldn’t help but notice, couldn’t help but get jealous.

Dan got back to the car first, watching Arin’s approach with the keys.

“Do you think this is really gonna take us all night?” Dan asked, taking a slow sip from his coffee. Arin shrugged and unlocked the door, slipping inside and starting the car up while Dan followed suit. Somehow, weeks ago, everyone had come up with the idea of doing a let’s play for some scary game overnight, in the dark – a gimmick for Halloween that was quickly approaching and at the time sounded like a hilarious way to torture two people and hear the results. It didn’t seem like such a hilarious idea when Dan and Arin were agreeing to do it at the insistence of everyone else, forced into it because it was a good way to mark the holiday and everyone else wanted to see the results.

“Hopefully not. Honestly I don’t know how we got roped into this at all; you can barely handle horror games in the first place. Remember P.T.?”

“Don’t remind me!” Dan wailed, his cry melting into a laugh as Arin pulled out of the parking lot, turning towards the office. Arin couldn’t stop himself from smiling, despite the fact that Dan’s earlier comment was still nagging at the back of his mind. The rest of the drive was comprised of Dan singing along wildly to whatever was playing over the radio, Arin gripping the steering wheel tighter than he meant to. 

 

The office was dark when the duo got inside - as expected, seeing as Barry had told them he wasn’t going to wait up for them but to call if they needed anything and to make sure the lights were off when they played because he’d know the difference – and immediately Dan was less interested in their little project. He started rambling about how much he didn’t want to do this: bringing up all of his bad experiences playing horror games, bemoaning Mark’s skill at playing games like that without really batting an eye, asking why they hadn’t gotten him to help with this as Arin got everything set up, working quietly around his friend’s obnoxious nervousness. 

“Dan, Daniel,” Arin said, starting up the game, filling the darkness with eerie light. “We’re gonna start now, we’re recording.”

In an instant Dan was sitting next to Arin, the nervousness in his voice still there but he was laughing again, talking about what they’d done before arriving at the office, making comments about the game as Arin played through it. 

The game was long, and was full of enough scares to keep both men on edge. Arin couldn’t not notice Dan move in closer every time the music swelled or dropped, every time something creaked or made a noise that his brain determined was a warning sign.

“I’m gonna need to distract myself, I can’t handle this game anymore and we aren’t even halfway through it,” Dan laughed, finally moving away to his side of the couch, leaving a gap that Arin could feel between them. “We should have invited that cute barista! I could have used her as a human shield, protect my vision from this me-ess!” Dan’s voice lifted into a sort of scream that quickly tapered off into another laugh as another jump scare presented itself, his hands flying up to cover his eyes. Arin’s grip on the controller tightened involuntarily, causing the plastic to creak under the pressure. It wasn’t because of the scare - the younger man knew that - and it wasn’t his friend’s sudden outburst. It was the fact that he brought that damn barista up again. It made Dan’s earlier comment echo in his head and wanted to yell and walk away and be angry but he couldn’t because he was just… jealous.

He didn’t want anyone looking at Dan like that, except him. He didn’t want anyone touching Dan like that, except him. He didn’t want anyone smiling at Dan like that, except him.

“Arin? You okay buddy?” Dan’ voice was much calmer than it had been, a tinge of worry lacing his words. Arin swore at himself and nodded, blindly trying to throw himself back into the game. The effort didn’t convince Dan, who reached over and paused the game himself.

“What’s wrong?” Dan asked again, his voice stronger, more confident. Arin was acutely aware of how close Dan was to him, of the little spaces between their bodies. He dropped the controller and clenched his hands, not realizing how tense they’d been until now, how tense all of him was now that he was thinking about it. Did he really want to get into this with Dan right now? No, he didn’t, but did he have a choice? Dan, for all the times he could be oblivious or overlook things, was not one to let something go if he finally sensed that something was amiss.

“I don’t want to hear about the barista anymore.” Arin muttered, his eyes dropping to the forgotten controller, a small red light near the start button blinking out a steady rhythm.

“What?” Dan asked, the smile that was creeping back onto his face betrayed by the laughing lilt in his voice. Arin swallowed hard and wiped his palms on the top of his thighs. Too deep to turn back now, he guessed.

“I don’t want to hear about the barista anymore, and how she smiled at you and how you wish she was here now.” Arin felt his throat tighten. His head was screaming ‘abort, abort!’ but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Definitely too deep to turn back now.

“O-ok Arin…are you jealous, or something?” Dan asked, his laugh still coloring his words. But there was an uncomfortable tinge behind them now, like he was trying to decide if this was a joke, if he should be playing it off as a joke. Arin sighed, sharp and upset and frustrated and scared, before speaking again.

“Yeah, Daniel, I am. I hate it when people flirt with you. I get jealous.”

“…Shit, Arin, I’m sorry, I can’t help it if they flirt with me, it’s not like I ask for it… I mean, people flirt with you too, it happens and-“

“I’m not jealous because I feel left out,” Arin said, his voice rising along with the blush on his face. He was suddenly glad it was mostly dark in the office, even with the dim light from the screen. “I’m jealous because you flirt back and I-“ 

Arin stopped short, unsure what he was about to say. He was jealous because he only wanted Dan to flirt with him? Only wanted Dan to pay that kind of attention to him? Only wanted Dan to kiss him like he imagined he would in every guilty daydream Arin had ever had about him since they met? This wasn’t how this scene usually played out in Arin’s head.

“I’m jealous because I like you. More than just the friend thing. I like you a lot.”

Arin’s voice seemed to fall flat and defeated in the quiet office. There was a long silence filled in by the eerie background noise of the still-paused game. Dan shifted a little and Arin wondered if he’d piled too much on. The tightness in his throat hit him again, and a slow panic burned in his chest.

“You…you’re jealous because you like me?” Dan sounded incredulous and Arin wanted to bury himself. Definitely way too deep, definitely way too much. “How long?”

“Since forever,” Arin mumbled, retreating into the far corner of the couch. He was waiting to feel Dan’s weight lift from the other side, move away and leave the office, but it never happened. Not only did it not happen, Dan did him one better. 

He moved in closer, closing any space Arin had just tried to put between them and took the younger man’s face in his hands, kissing him harder than Arin’s daydreams had ever dared to wish for. It was brief and Arin couldn’t decide if he was thankful for that or disappointed that it didn’t last longer. His mouth tasted faintly of the coffee he’d had earlier, and something that was distinctly Dan. It was better than his imagination had ever afforded him.

“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” Dan breathed, still hanging close, a hand still tracing Arin’s jaw.

“I didn’t think it’d go well.” Arin breathed out, shivering involuntarily. Even in the low light, he could see Dan’s wide, inviting smile. “But it looks like I was wrong.”

“Yeah, you were.” Dan slid back to his side of the couch, glancing at the screen. “We should finish the game. We can talk about this after. Barry’ll have enough emotional drama to wade though as it is, don’t you think?”

Arin groaned at the blinking recorder under the screen, still dutifully recording away. The others would have something to say about what had just happened, because there was no way it would stay between them and Barry. It’d be an… interesting conversation, but when Dan handed the controller back to Arin, positioning himself close, a hand resting casually on his leg, he suddenly didn’t care. It would be a conversation they’d go into together.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading! this was my first game grumps fic, and, as i mentioned to cottonstones when she first read it over for me, i was/am nervous about correctly characterizing and capturing the guys' personalities. if you have suggestions, please let me know! thanks again!


End file.
